Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Full Speech from the Interim Budget 2024:  In her 48-minute speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman revealed the Interim Budget 2024, emphasizing its focus on women, the impoverished, farmers, and youth. The budget aims to uplift these segments of society through various initiatives and programs.

Key Highlights from the FM's Speech:

The Indian economy has seen significant positive changes over the past decade, instilling hope and optimism among its people.

Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership since 2014, the government has tackled immense challenges with the principle of "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas" (Together with All, Development for All). Structural reforms, pro-people policies, and increased opportunities for employment have been pivotal in revitalizing the economy and fostering hope among citizens.

In its second term, the government has doubled down on its commitment to comprehensive development for all, focusing on inclusivity across social and geographical divides.

Despite challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic, the government's "Sabka Prayas" (Collective Efforts) approach has steered the nation towards self-reliance (Atmanirbhar Bharat) and laid strong foundations for future growth.

The government's development strategy has shifted from merely providing for villages to targeting individual households, ensuring widespread access to essential services like housing, water, electricity, and banking facilities.

Measures such as free ration for 80 crore people and increased minimum support prices for farmers have boosted rural incomes, fostering economic growth and employment opportunities.

The government's development agenda is holistic and inclusive, aiming to make India a developed nation by 2047 by enhancing people's capabilities and empowerment.

Social justice is not just a slogan but a governance model for the government, with a focus on inclusive policies that benefit all sections of society, regardless of social status.

The government's priority lies in empowering the poor, women, youth, and farmers, recognizing their pivotal role in the nation's progress.

Initiatives and Programs:

The government's efforts have lifted 25 crore people out of multidimensional poverty over the past decade through empowerment-based approaches.

Direct Benefit Transfer initiatives, facilitated through PM-Jan Dhan accounts, have resulted in significant government savings of ₹2.7 lakh crore, enhancing resources for welfare programs.

Programs like PM-SVANidhi and PM-JANMAN Yojana have provided credit assistance to street vendors and vulnerable tribal groups, respectively, promoting financial inclusion.

Schemes such as PM-KISAN SAMMAN Yojana and PM Fasal Bima Yojana continue to support farmers with direct financial assistance and crop insurance, ensuring food security for the nation.

The Electronic National Agriculture Market has modernized agricultural trade, benefitting 1.8 crore farmers with a trading volume of ₹3 lakh crore.

The Interim Budget 2024 reflects the government's commitment to inclusive growth and empowerment, laying the groundwork for a prosperous and equitable future for all citizens.

New Policies Boosting Growth and Opportunities for Youth

India is on the brink of a new era of inclusive growth and productivity, thanks to a series of farmer-friendly policies, increased support for income, and comprehensive insurance coverage. Additionally, there's a push for technological advancements through startup initiatives, aimed at empowering the younger generation.

The National Education Policy of 2020 is spearheading transformative changes, ensuring quality education through initiatives like the PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI), which are focused on nurturing well-rounded individuals.

Empowering Youth through Skill Development

The Skill India Mission has successfully trained and upskilled millions of youths, with the establishment of numerous ITIs and institutions of higher learning across the country. Furthermore, schemes like PM Mudra Yojana and Start Up India are fostering entrepreneurial aspirations among the youth, leading to increased employment opportunities.

Celebrating Sporting Success and Women Empowerment

India takes pride in its youth's achievements in sports, with record-breaking performances in events like the Asian Games and Asian Para Games. Notably, there has been a significant rise in the number of chess grandmasters, reflecting the nation's growing prowess in the sport.

Women empowerment has also seen significant progress, with initiatives like Mudra Yojana providing loans to women entrepreneurs and policies promoting their participation in higher education and the workforce.

Focus on Governance, Development, and Performance

The government's commitment to governance, development, and performance (GDP) has led to transparent and people-centric administration, resulting in macroeconomic stability and improved living standards. Various economic reforms have deepened the tax base, strengthened the financial sector, and facilitated global investments.

Navigating Global Challenges

In the face of complex global geopolitical dynamics and challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, India has assumed leadership roles, successfully steering through economic crises and championing solutions for global issues.

Vision for a Developed India

With a vision of a prosperous and sustainable India, the government aims to harness the nation's demographic dividend, democratic values, and cultural diversity to realize the dream of a developed India by 2047.

Strategies for Growth and Development

Moving forward, the government plans to implement policies that promote inclusive growth, enhance productivity, and create opportunities for all sections of society. Key focus areas include reforms, sustainable development, and fostering a conducive regulatory environment for businesses, particularly MSMEs.

Empowering Aspirational Districts and Eastern Regions

Efforts will be directed towards accelerating the development of aspirational districts and bolstering the eastern region's contribution to India's economic growth. Despite challenges, initiatives like PM Awas Yojana (Grameen) continue to progress, aiming to provide housing to millions of families and promote solar energy adoption for household electricity needs.

New Scheme to Provide Affordable Housing and Healthcare

The government is set to launch a new scheme aimed at assisting the middle class in acquiring affordable housing and healthcare, particularly those living in rented accommodations, slums, or unauthorized colonies. This initiative follows the Prime Minister's commitment made during the inauguration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The scheme is expected to provide significant benefits including:

Annual savings of up to fifteen to eighteen thousand rupees for households through free solar electricity and selling surplus energy to distribution companies.
Facilitating the charging of electric vehicles.

Creating entrepreneurship opportunities for vendors supplying and installing solar panels.

Generating employment for youth skilled in manufacturing, installation, and maintenance of solar equipment.

Expansion of Medical Education and Healthcare Services

In response to the growing demand for medical professionals and improved healthcare services, the government plans to establish more medical colleges. This initiative will utilize existing hospital infrastructure across various departments. A committee will be formed to examine relevant issues and make recommendations.

Prevention of Cervical Cancer and Maternal/Child Healthcare

The government will encourage vaccination of girls aged 9 to 14 years to prevent cervical cancer. Additionally, various schemes related to maternal and child healthcare will be consolidated into a comprehensive program for better implementation. Upgrading anganwadi centers under the "Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0" initiative will focus on improving nutrition delivery and early childhood care.

Enhancing Healthcare Coverage

The scope of the Ayushman Bharat scheme will be expanded to include ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, and helpers, providing them with healthcare coverage.

Promotion of Agriculture and Food Processing

Efforts to increase value addition in the agricultural sector and boost farmers' income will be intensified. Schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Yojana will be further leveraged to reduce post-harvest losses and improve productivity.

Encouraging Technological Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Recognizing the pivotal role of technology in driving economic growth, the government will establish a corpus of one lakh crore rupees to provide long-term financing for research and innovation, particularly in sunrise sectors. Additionally, a new scheme will be launched to promote deep-tech technologies for defense purposes.

Investment in Infrastructure and Transportation

The government plans to increase capital expenditure, with a focus on infrastructure development, including the implementation of three major economic railway corridor programs. The expansion of metro rail networks and the NaMo Bharat initiative will be supported to facilitate urban transformation.

Promotion of Green Energy and Electric Vehicles

To achieve its commitment to net-zero emissions by 2070, the government will provide funding for harnessing offshore wind energy and promote coal gasification and liquefaction. Mandating the phased blending of compressed biogas in natural gas and providing financial assistance for biomass aggregation machinery are among other measures planned to promote green energy and electric vehicles.

Taxation and Economic Policies

No changes in tax rates are proposed for direct or indirect taxes. However, certain tax benefits for start-ups and investments by sovereign wealth or pension funds will be extended until March 31, 2025. Additionally, outstanding direct tax demands up to twenty-five thousand rupees for the period up to the financial year 2009-10 and up to ten thousand rupees for financial years 2010-11 to 2014-15 will be withdrawn to benefit approximately a crore taxpayers.

Overall, the government aims to continue its efforts towards achieving the vision of a developed and self-reliant India, focusing on inclusive growth and sustainable development.